Put A Record On: A Lot Of Good Songs and A Couple Bad Ones

When country songs are bad, they can be *so* bad

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Scoot Teasley wants his country back and we want that too!

Ok, so we decided to change things up — just for this week, we're putting the bad right up top, because sometimes it's fun to be a hater and also we want to give all the free subscribers a taste of the dreck we sift through to bring you the very best of what this wide country world has to offer. This edition of Put A Record On has all the good and mid songs too just…below the paywall :) Also below the paywall is a playlist of all our picks, as well as a special Kelsea Ballerini themed list to go with Marissa's missive from earlier this week! We'd love to have you as part of our paying subscriber community, where you'll get full access to all this and so much more honking and tonking-pilled content! On with the music…

The Bad

"Way Out Here," Riley Green: "Our houses are protected by the good Lord and a gun" — get a fucking grip. Bullshit rah rah propaganda that not only gives God and country but also plays into conservatives' favorite martyr fantasies: "We don't take a dime if we ain't earned it" (except farms subsidies, right) and "It's mostly us that end up serving overseas" (now why do you think that is?) and "Hell, if it was up to me I'd love to see this country run/Like it used to be, like it ought to be and just like it's done/Out here, way out here" (more Lost Cause-pilled bullshit, see also last week and basically every week prior). I had thought that Riley Green was just trying to be the Luke Combs of Sam Hunts (a.k.a. more or less innocuous), but now I see that his angle is far more sinister and I'm grossed out. — NW

“Funny Girl,” RaeLynn: Look, I love a play on words as much as the next person – but we can’t all write bangers like “Space Cowboy,” can we? This is so phoned in, lyrically and musically. And I really dislike when country artists release something a little more acoustic and lo-fi and expect us to be tricked into thinking it’s good. And do I hate this more because RaeLynn tried to become more famous on the coattails of Jason Aldean’s wife’s MAGAnomics? Yes! And that is my right! - MM 

"She Don't Like Old Country," William Michael Morgan: I tuned into this one thinking it could be cute — the idea of a person not liking old country music or stopping liking old country feels like a potentially fruitful conceit. The song takes some very strange turns though: the narrator's former partner hasn't just abandoned George Jones and Willie Nelson, she's "got a diamond in her nose" (...ok), has "changed her clothes" (sure), "don't dance the way she did before" (huh), "hangin' with a hipper crowd" (not exactly hard to be more hip than William Michael Morgan) and "working on her swagger" (?????????). Weird vibes! — NW

The Good

"Country Back," Scoot Teasley: Man, why aren't there more songs this clear and candid about paving paradise and putting up parking lots :) I'm being serious! This is a bright, fun take on a phenomenon that literally everyone in America is familiar with but gets little play in the poppier corners of country music. Also, I can't ascribe intent here but a Black man singing "I want my country back, I want it all back" is invigorating in a sea of white guys who sing the same kinds of words with a much more hostile and violent meaning. — NW

“Remember Me,” The Hanseroth Twins: Twin Heads Rejoice! I cannot believe the time has finally come that we get a record from the Hanseroth Twins, best known for their work as bandmates and collaborators to Brandi Carlile (and, a long time ago, guitarists in Seattle band Fighting Machinists). Honestly, I didn’t see this coming but I am so happy it’s here, and it’s the epitome of sibling harmony. Also happens to be a song for their kids that made me cry (of course). - MM